RIC Facility Policies

RIC Facility Pricing

There are three tiers of pricing:

• single use (defined as a unit of time)

• heavy use for a week

• heavy use for a month (refer to Fees tables
for single use time units and pricing)

Single use pricing is based on
units
of time defined for each instrument. Heavy use pricing is
based on flat
fees if a user exceeds a set dollar amount by the single use
pricing
system. Therefore, if an investigator requires the intense use
of a
certain piece of equipment a flat fee will be billed for that
particular
week, or for that particular month, which will allow unlimited
use of
that piece of equipment during the heavy use billing period.
Each investigator
will receive a monthly billing invoice which will have already
been
calculated to charge the lowest rate for each instrument
according to
the usage. Consumable items, i.e. FACS tubes and polyallomer
tubes for
centrifugation, etc., will be charged at cost. For billing
purposes,
a month will be divided into four weeks. The first week will
begin on
the first Monday of the month. The last week will include any
days of
the calendar month prior to the first Monday.

Why use the RIC Facility instruments?

Fees for instruments are
instituted
such that if an investigator were to use the instrument
continually
throughout the year, the cost to the user for that year would
be about
3-4% of the purchasing cost for that piece of equipment. Thus
the investigator
would have to use the instrument continually for about 25 to
30 years
before reaching the amount of money it would have cost to
purchase the
instrument outright at the beginning of the 30 years. In
addition to
purchasing costs, high-technology research equipment is often
expensive
to maintain, and complicated to use. If the instrument is not
used frequently,
an investigator may take weeks of valuable research time to
become reacquainted
with the equipment and may waste reagents and precious samples
in the
process of relearning equipment use. The RIC Facility
maintains equipment,
provides access for investigator use and operates any
complicated equipment
for the investigator. If an investigator takes into account
expenses
due to equipment purchasing cost, equipment maintenance cost,
repair
cost, and time, it is economically advantageous to use the
equipment
provided in the RIC Facility rather than to purchase, maintain
and operate
the equipment individually.

Investigator accounts

An investigator who wishes to
utilize
instruments and services in the RIC Facility is requested to
contact
the director or lab technician to set up a user account. The
registration
form documents the investigator’s choice for current account
number(s)
from which funds can be transferred at billing time. When the
investigator
wishes to use multiple account numbers for billing, the
investigator
may specify which account number will provide payment for
which user
and/or project of choice. Fund transfers will take place at
the beginning
of the month for the previous month and each investigator will
receive
a paper copy of the billing invoice.

Door codes

The main door to the RIC
Facility will
be programmed with a unique code for access by each
investigator with
an account. The internal door to the RIC Facility darkroom
will be programmed
with a unique code for access by each approved Zeiss AxioSkop
investigator.
Daily door access will be monitored. Each investigator is
requested
to protect the privacy and restrict the use of programmed door
codes.

Recording instrument usage

Each instrument, service or
consumable
has a card for recording usage. Cards are readily accessible
in the
lab. At the time of service, individual users should sign the
back of
the card, fill out one row of information as indicated on the
card and
drop the card in the box near the door of the lab.
Investigators are
kindly requested to inform student users of these policies so
that operations
in the RIC Facility will run as smoothly as possible. The card
system
is not only functional for billing purposes, but is also
utilized to
track consumables for ordering and to track instrument use so
that equipment
can be regularly scheduled for routine maintenance services
according
to usage milestones.

Government Compliance

The RIC Facility will abide by the following
items in
order to comply with federal regulations.

Accounting software will track:

• Investigator accounts

• Equipment and consumable use

• Inventory

• Expenses

• Billing – including specific federal and non-federal grant
numbers

• Facility summaries (for internal and external audits)

Funds will be used for:

• Lab Technician wages

• Standard equipment maintenance

• Equipment repairs

• Equipment upgrades associated with repairs

• Equipment Consumables and Reagents

• Promotional and Training expenses

Funds will not be used for:

• Acquisition of new equipment

• Personal Leisure or other expenses not allowed under
federal
regulations

As required by federal law,
fees can
not be subjected to discounts, negotiated prices or other
alteration
of prices for any internal (BYU) investigators. A separate
billing structure
(elevated prices) will be established and approved by BYU
compliance
for external (non- BYU) investigators whose accounts will also
be tracked
in the accounting software.

The RIC facility is classified
as a
Recharge Center. This means that the facility can not operate
for profit
and must abide by all federal and BYU recharge center
regulations. The
RIC Facility will conduct the required annual and optional
semi-annual
accounting reviews to determine any pricing adjustment. Any
adjustments
in prices will reflect a need for change due to differences in
facility
expense accounts versus income in accounts receivable.